Curtis McLaren Vale Shiraz Small Batch 2022
- 93
- $80
- Drink by: 2026-2034
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Small batch wines tend to be those made in very limited quantities, a way for the winemakers to experiment and innovate and to hone their skills. And so is here. They don’t necessarily have to be from unknown regions or unpronounceable varieties. This is McLaren Vale Shiraz from an excellent vintage and there is very much to like. The colour is a very dark garnet with a ruby rim. Lovely aromatics here, chocolate and cherry to the fore with black fruits, coffee grinds and smoked meats. The wine certainly takes advantage of the very good vintage from which it hails. Seamless in structure, sleek in texture and with very fine powdery tannins, there is a flick of juicy acidity. A touch of oak is still evident, but it is well integrated. Should drink beautifully over the next six to eight years.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
